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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621026">That's What You Think</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caelum_Blue/pseuds/Caelum_Blue'>Caelum_Blue</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Caelum's Canonverse [16]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>600 Day Siege of Ba Sing Se, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Ba Sing Se, Family, Gen, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Series, There Is No War In Ba Sing Se</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:14:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,123</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621026</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caelum_Blue/pseuds/Caelum_Blue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>8 years pre-series. </p>
<p>Iroh’s Siege is just warming up. Quy would rather not let his cousin know, for her own good. Tien isn’t too keen on all this secrecy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original male character(s) &amp; Original female character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Caelum's Canonverse [16]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/817911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>That's What You Think</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I really need to write a fic where Tien has a no-holds-barred GOOD day, for once. I'm sorry, Tien.</p>
<p>WARNINGS FOR Tien having a panic attack for most of this fic while Quy is kinda useless.<br/>And not explicit but allusions to:<br/>-Nanyue<br/>-War crimes<br/>-Rape</p>
<p>Thanks to Stingrae for being my beta!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the twentieth day of what they were starting to call Iroh’s Siege, Tien cornered Quy before he could retreat to his bedroom after a long day of work.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?” she demanded, and Quy blinked at her. His cousin was a small woman, short and slender, but she’d strategically placed herself in the center of the hallway leading to his chambers and was somehow managing to completely block his path. Her stance was wide and firm, her hands were on her hips, and her expression as she looked up at him was unyielding.</p>
<p>Quy still could have easily pushed past her with a muttered excuse about needing rest, had he felt like being an utter ass. Some small part of him desperately <em> wanted </em> to push past her - he was tired, the Fire Nation had the Outer Wall surrounded, and he knew <em> exactly </em> what Tien was asking him. But he didn’t want to disrespect his cousin like that, so instead he hedged, very cautiously, “What do you mean?”</p>
<p>Tien’s mouth was set in a hard line. “Something’s up,” she said. “I can tell.”</p>
<p>He hesitated, because she wasn’t part of either the Dai Li or the Army, and despite her pseudo-political position as a leader of the Nanyuese refugee community she was still a civilian and thus she had no business knowing anything about the war. “It’s nothing, Tien,” he said gently, hating the lie. But she wasn’t cleared to know about the siege, and she didn’t <em> need </em> to know about the siege, and Quy certainly didn’t want to burden her with the knowledge that her old enemy was trying to destroy everything she loved <em> again </em>. His cousin had had enough pain in her life; there was no reason to add more to it unnecessarily.</p>
<p>His cousin, he knew, was of a much different opinion. Tien’s homeland was far from Ba Sing Se in terms of both distance and customs, and she rarely complied with the city’s policy of ignorant bliss. Oh, she didn’t go spreading dissent, but she did keep up-to-date on the war’s happenings as much as she could, and if Quy hadn’t been her cousin she probably would have been picked up by the Dai Li and reeducated for knowing too much years ago. </p>
<p>She frowned at him. “I thought you might say that. It’s something you can’t tell me, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>Quy was silent.</p>
<p>“But it’s obvious,” she continued. “You’re exhausted, Roulan’s been nervous, and your kids get jittery every time they’re around me or Hoang or your mom. What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“It’s Dai Li business,” Quy said. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”</p>
<p>Normally that was enough to make her back off, but not today. Her frown intensified into a glare. “Did I mention that Bian suddenly had to cancel on a meeting with me because she was called away on business?” she asked. “Wait, no, let me rephrase that - <em> General Bian Võ </em> has been <em> called away on business </em>. Business so important and lengthy, apparently, that she couldn’t even spare an afternoon for this month’s Little Nanyue town hall meeting, which you know she considers to be an extremely important responsibility. And she hasn’t been back in her home since she left nearly two weeks ago. I’ve checked.” She crossed her arms and fixed him with a hard stare, awaiting his response.</p>
<p>Quy suppressed a wince. “I’m...sure it’s nothing,” he said feebly.</p>
<p>“She’s been gone for <em> seventeen days </em>, Quy.”</p>
<p>Quy grimaced. “Tien,” he started quietly, and he stopped.</p>
<p>Her mouth twisted. “It’s the war, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>“There is no war in Ba Sing Se,” Quy said automatically.</p>
<p>“Sure as hell is one <em> outside </em> of it, though,” Tien snapped back. “I fought in it, if you remember. I <em> survived </em> it. What’s going on?”</p>
<p>Quy still hesitated. “Tien,” he said, “you know I’m not supposed to talk about this…”</p>
<p>“That’s never stopped you before,” she pointed out. “You’ve always kept me posted. Very vaguely posted,” she added with a roll of her eyes, “But still.” She gave him an expectant look.</p>
<p>It was true. After Long Feng had instituted the city’s policy of silence on all matters of the war, Quy had at least made sure to keep Tien somewhat aware of the goings-on in the world beyond the walls. To keep her from getting in trouble trying to figure it out herself, of course. She never did anything drastic with the knowledge he imparted, and thus Long Feng was willing to look the other way when Quy took liberties with his status as a Dai Li director. So, yes, he kept Tien posted. Vaguely. She had other sources, too, he was certain - General Bian Võ wasn’t her only friend in the army - but Quy himself had always passed along little tidbits of information. Particularly the <em> good </em> bits of information - he wanted his cousin to hear the good news, to know when the Fire Nation was beaten back. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, that was happening less and less these days.</p>
<p>Quy wrapped his arms around himself and glanced away, his eyes latching onto a wall scroll of a sparrowkeet perched on a plum branch that had been painted by his great-great-great-grandmother nearly two centuries ago. “I don’t want to worry you,” he said. “Especially when it isn’t necessary.”</p>
<p>From the corner of his eye, he saw her frown a little in confusion, brows furrowing. “You don’t want to <em> worry </em> me?” she repeated, uncrossing her arms. “Why on earth would I - ”</p>
<p>She broke off, and even at the edge of his peripheral vision, Quy saw the moment the terrible realization hit her. Even as vague as he’d kept them, his words had been the keystone piece of a puzzle she’d likely spent days trying to put together, and now all the other pieces of information she had were falling into place to form a very scary picture. Tien’s entire body went rigid, her shoulders suddenly stiff as a board, her mouth frozen open mid-sentence. Only her eyes moved, widening to the size of saucers. Quy couldn’t bring himself to look at her, and he hugged himself a little tighter and very firmly fixed his gaze on Great-Great-Great-Grandmother Zhaohui’s painting, steadfastly studying the feathers on the sparrowkeet’s wings. </p>
<p>There was a horrible length of silence. </p>
<p>The moments ticked by tensely, and then Tien made a little whimpery noise - a noise Quy had only ever heard her make during nightmares and flashbacks. Worried, he finally looked at her, and found her standing stiffly with clenched fists and wide eyes. She was staring at him in horrified denial.</p>
<p>“He’s here,” she said woodenly, “isn’t he?”</p>
<p>Quy said nothing.</p>
<p>“<em> Isn’t he </em>?” she asked again.</p>
<p>“Tien,” he murmured, “it’s nothing to worry about - ”</p>
<p>“No,” she said shakily. “No, no, no, no, <em> no </em>…” He breaths came unsteadily, and tremors rippled up and down her frame.</p>
<p>“Tien,” Quy said worriedly, stepping toward her.</p>
<p>She took a step back. </p>
<p>“Tien,” he tried again, holding a hand out toward her. “Tien, it’s nothing to worry about, I promise, we’ll be <em> fine </em>, this is Ba Sing Se, everyone is safe here - ”</p>
<p>She stared at his hand and gulped down a breath. “Quy, if you don’t tell me what’s going on <em> right now </em> ,” she said, her voice starting out shaky but quickly gaining strength, “I am going to go hunt down Bian at whatever shitty post they’ve stuck her with on the Outer Wall and ask <em> her </em> what’s going on, and Long Feng himself won’t be able to stop me.”</p>
<p>Quy almost believed her claim, too. His cousin had fought and snuck her way out of Fire Nation-occupied territory when she’d been just a teenager, and she’d been thumbing her nose at unhelpful politicians ever since. Evading the Dai Li was highly improbable...but not <em> impossible </em>. </p>
<p>And the last thing he needed was to have to hunt her down, or for her to have her worst fears confirmed when she arrived at the Outer Wall to find a sea of red tents beyond it. She was going to find out one way or the other, Quy supposed. At least if she found out from him, it’d be less stressful. “Prince Iroh and the Fire Army have been camped along the Outer Wall for twenty days now,” he admitted quietly. </p>
<p>Tien took a shaky breath and squeezed her eyes shut. “Are they never satisfied?” she managed to hiss.</p>
<p>Quy desperately wanted to hug her, but she was tense as a bowstring and shaking with suppressed - fear? Rage? Both? He wasn’t sure. He held back. “Tien,” he said gently, “you don’t need to worry. I promise.”</p>
<p>“Ha!” she choked out, eyes snapping open, and she scowled at him, eyes bright with tears. “You have no idea what they’re capable of, Quy. Fire consumes everything in its path.”</p>
<p>“Not stone,” he insisted. “No one’s ever breached the Outer Wall, Tien. Not even Chin the Conqueror managed it, and <em> he </em> had Earthbenders working for him. They won’t get through. It’s impossible.”</p>
<p>“I wish I could believe you,” Tien said. She sounded sad and scared and tired. “But I would’ve thought what happened in Nanyue would’ve been impossible, and that happened too.” </p>
<p>Quy had never heard many specifics from his cousin about the massacre that had driven her and so many others from their homeland. Tien tended to confide more in his mother when it came to those events.</p>
<p>But he had never <em> needed </em> to hear specifics from Tien to have an idea of what horrors she’d witnessed - it was easy to extrapolate. His young cousin had crawled her way through fire and blood and thousands of miles of wilderness to reach Ba Sing Se and the extended family that hadn’t known she’d existed. She’d come to them scarred and scared and pregnant and exhausted, and she’d only been one of thousands of people who’d looked much the same. Nanyuese refugees had been pouring into Ba Sing Se at the time, bringing with them terrible scars and blood-curdling stories. It had been before Long Feng had taken control of the Dai Li, and talk of the horrors of the war had run rampant in the streets.</p>
<p>Quy’s heart ached for his cousin. Tien had survived Nanyue. She had reason to be scared of the Dragon of the West. But here, in Ba Sing Se, they were <em> safe </em>.</p>
<p>“This isn’t Nanyue,” Quy tried to reassure her. “We have walls and plenty of troops and enough farmland to keep everyone fed. We’re going to be fine.”</p>
<p>“Airbenders could fly,” Tien said, wiping her eyes. “That didn’t save them.” She shook her head. “This isn’t going to end well, Quy.”</p>
<p>“Tien,” he said, earnestly, “it’ll be <em> fine </em>. They’ll give up after a year or so, and everything will be okay. They’ll give up - they always do. No one’s ever conquered this city.”</p>
<p>She shook her head again. “Quy, the Fire Nation...they don’t <em> give up </em> . And General Iroh, he’s - that bastard stops at <em> nothing</em>, Quy. If anyone is going to find a way in, it’ll be him.”</p>
<p>“I understand General Iroh is a formidable opponent - ”</p>
<p>“He’s a <em> monster</em>,” Tien said. “He’s ruthless, and he has thousands of loyal troops who are more than willing to do whatever he orders them to, no matter how impossible it is. Or how horrible.” She bit her lip, looking haunted. “He’s merciless, Quy. If he gets through - ”</p>
<p>“He won’t get through, Tien,” Quy insisted, and he stepped forward, one arm outstretched. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and he was tremendously grateful when she leaned into him, because he had no idea what else to do at this point. Hugs, at least, were simple things.</p>
<p>She clutched at him. “You’d better be right, Quy,” she said shakily, loosing a sob.</p>
<p>“I can list you a hundred failed military campaigns against this city that prove that I’m right,” he promised, holding her tight. “And even more, if you like.”</p>
<p>“And I can list you a thousand horrible things that will happen if you’re wrong,” she answered, and she pulled away to wipe at her eyes again. “You need to tell your mom.</p>
<p>Quy blanched. “Tien, I’m <em> not </em> supposed to talk about - ”</p>
<p>“Heh,” she chuckled, weakly, “no. You’ve already told <em> me </em> , so that excuse doesn’t work. If you don’t tell her, <em> I </em> will, and then she’ll <em> make </em> you tell her the rest.”</p>
<p>Quy sighed. “Alright,” he said.</p>
<p>“Good,” said Tien, and she grabbed his hand. “Come on. She’s in her room, I think.”</p>
<p>“What - <em> now?”</em></p>
<p>“Yes, <em> now,”</em> Tien insisted, leading him down the hall. Quy was tempted to protest further, but his cousin’s hand trembled around his even as she pulled him along, so he wrapped his fingers around hers and squeezed tightly instead.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated. &lt;3</p>
<p>There was a period of time after I wrote Bright and Bitter, Pure and Sweet where some people asked me "so how does Tien react to the Siege/the coup/the book 2 finale?" and the answer is always "badly."</p>
<p>I have some follow-up ideas for this about Tien reacting to how the Siege ends and stuff, it's not hashed out yet but I'll probably do something more on this in the future.</p>
<p>Name notes! <br/>Võ - Vietnamese surname that refers to military service or the art of fighting</p>
<p>If you're reading this you may know my OC General Bian, who shows up in Weather's Frightful, But Fire's Delightful and That Time Tuan Got Plastered. Idk if I ever mentioned her surname before, but if I did I probably said it was Nanyue because I am not very good at giving refugee characters surnames. There was a strain of thought in the ATLA fandom back in the day (might still be a thing but idk I don't pay much attention) that since the Beifongs are the only people we hear of with a surname, clearly it's just a rich people thing. But surnames have been an important part of Chinese and other Asian cultures since, like, ever, so that theory's actually kinda dumb. I'm trying to be better with the worldbuilding, so Bian's surname is Võ now.</p>
<p>Fun fact: You can tell how old one of my fics is by the punctuation. Google docs does this thing when you copy into AO3 where, if there's italics and non-italicized text right next to each other, it'll put a space in between them. Since I was too depressed to post anything for a few years, I didn't realize this was a thing until like 2016. Now I get around it by italicizing my punctuation if it's next to italicized words, but I don't always remember to check through the formatting when I work on older fic, and I'm too lazy to fix it if I see it after posting. So if you see any oddly-spaced punctuation, that's why, and it means portions of this fic were probably written during the Obama Presidency.</p>
<p>I have one more almost-ready-to-go oneshot after this one, and then I'm gonna go back to staring at my WIPs folder, hoping it doesn't stare back. Ugh. :P</p></blockquote></div></div>
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